


Birthday Wishes

by proxxima



Category: jacksepticeye
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday Party, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-27 23:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proxxima/pseuds/proxxima
Summary: Chase returns from work late in the evening. It´s his birthday but he doesn´t expect anyone to care, so he just plans to spend the night alone...





	1. Chapter 1

Chase was staring outside the window on the bus. The towering buildings of the night city were flashing before his eyes, distant in their own, majestic way. Their windows were shining, full of life, full of joy.  
But Chase was sitting on the bus on his way home. His window wouldn't be lit tonight.  
He was squeezing his phone in his hands, constantly switching his attention between the city outside and the cracked screen of an old phone.  
In the low light of the lamps the screen was shining, almost screaming the information at him. April 11, Friday, 9:01 PM, 19% of the battery left, no notifications.  
His birthday.  
Chase didn't tell any of his brothers about it. He was coming home late and just wanted some rest. Besides, it wasn't like they would care anyway...  
Just like she didn't.  
Chase checked his phone again. No messages, no missed calls, no notifications at all. He also knew none would arrive. And yet, he kept checking. Like a fool.  
He hid the phone into his pocket.  
She won't call. If she wanted to, she would have definitely done that by now.  
Chase tried to focus on the lights outside again, but the device in his pocket was inviting him to look again.  
At least the kids could call? Maybe...?  
Did she even tell them it's their father's birthday?  
Chase resisted the urge to put the phone out of his pocket.  
No, she probably didn't.  
He stood up. It was time to get off the bus and walk home.  
The bus stopped and Chase stepped outside, into the familiar light from the old street lamps and the deep shadows in the among the large houses. He set off along the street, heading home.  
Maybe he had some whiskey left. That would be his way of celebrating his birthday. At least he doesn't have to worry about a call from the alcohol... the bottle won't leave him and tell him to go fuck himself.  
Before he could think any more about the way of spending his night, he arrived to the house. Chase unlocked the door and stepped inside.  
"Hello?"  
The house was dark and silent. Strange, considering Marvin didn't usually go to sleep before 1 AM.  
Maybe he's tired tonight...  
Chase put away his jacket and went into the kitchen. He put his hand onto the handle and was about to open the door when he heard a sound of something falling over in the room next door. The living room.  
"Who's there?" He asked, still unsure. "Marv, is that you?"  
No response.  
Something else fell over.  
"What the fuck?" Chase mumbled to himself and slowly moved to the closed door of the living room. No sounds this time.  
Chase frowned. "Are you guys playing pranks on me? It's not funny, you know."  
Another thing fell over.  
Chase opened the living room door. "I'm not really in the mood for your little gam-"  
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" Four voices yelled in unison.  
"What the fuck?" Chase blinked.  
The living room was decorated with colourful balloons and ribbons. Above the TV was hanging a giant HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHASE sign made out of cardboard. On the table was a ton of food, ranging from donuts with delicate pink topping to gold-brown pretzels.  
And at the table, in the middle of all of this, were his brothers, all smiling at him, with party hats on.  
"It's time, boys!" Jackie shouted and JJ grabbed his violin.  
"One, two, three-"  
They started playing Happy Birthday. Marvin, Jackie and Henrik, of which none could sing properly, were yelling the lyrics, while JJ, unable to talk, was playing his violin.  
Singing and playing, with the party hats on, all of them looked extremely silly and if Chase didn't know them, he would bet all his money that they were drunk. However, there wasn't a single bottle of alcohol on the table.  
Chase didn't know exactly what to do, so he smiled awkwardly and waited for them to finish. But on the inside, his heart was racing. Somehow, these bastards in front of him figured out that it was his birthday. They took their time to do this for him. As shitty as it may be. Chase felt tears making their way into his eyes and was trying his best to stop them.  
His brothers finished their performance and stormed to him.  
Jackie crushed him in his embrace as the first. "Happy birthday, bro!"  
"Than-" Chase didn't have time to say anything.  
Marvin has already jumped to him, hugging him tightly, but not as strong as Jackie. "A year older now, are we!"  
Henrik, to Chase's surprise, also hugged him, although he usually said he didn't like it at all. "I wish you all the best, man."  
Chase just quickly smiled before JJ embraced him. JJ only smiled at him, not signing anything, and Chase really regretted not having learned sign language yet.  
"I- honestly, thank you so much!" Chase managed to say.  
"Aw man, it's nothing," Marvin waved with his hand.  
"No, this must have taken a lot of time, I really appr-"  
JJ tugged Jackie's sleeve and pointed towards the door linking the kitchen and the living room. Jackie's eyes were practically shining as he nodded.  
"Bring in the cake!" he announced and Marvin disappeared in the kitchen door.  
"Cake?!"  
"I hope you didn't think the best we could come up with were a few cardboard letters and some donuts," Henrik frowned.  
"We have more than just donuts, Henrik," Jackie objected, "don't forget about the pretzels!!"  
JJ was nodding enthusiastically.  
"Fine," Henrik said at last, "Chase, take a seat! It's YOUR big day after all!"  
They all sat down and JJ put a party hat saying BIRTHDAY BRO on Chase's head.  
A moment later Marvin appeared, using his magic to make the cake levitate into the living room. It certainly wasn't the biggest or the most beautiful cake, rather a simple one, but Chase recognised it was home-made immediately.  
"Aww, guys, who made this?"  
"JJ and I," Henrik said and JJ smiled proudly.  
"It looks amazing, my dudes, not gonna lie!" Marvin carefully placed the cake into the middle of the table.  
It was covered in orange with yellow HAPPY B-DAY CHASE written in the middle. On the top were several little candles which by all means could not represent Chase's current age but he guessed it was the best the boys were able to find and was grateful anyway.  
He completely forgot about the phone in his pocket.


	2. Chapter 2

Chase has never been so glad it was Friday.

The little unexpected birthday party lasted longer than he expected. They spent the whole night eating the cake JJ and Henrik had made (which was absolutely delicious according to everyone, what made JJ's mood skyrocket), playing games (Chase was winning but he had a strong suspicion that everyone else was letting him win on purpose), watching movies (rewatching the Deadpool films - Chase loved them) and much more.

Chase also found out a couple of interesting facts. For example, what the strange sounds of things falling over were. As it turned out, Marvin was trying to distract him from entering the kitchen, the place, where the delicious cake was hidden in plain sight (on the table). So, Marvin used his magic to knock over two pots with plants and a vase. Henrik wasn't exactly happy about this, because said plants were some of his favourites, and spent the most of the first Deadpool film trying his best to save what was left of them. There was no way for him to fix the vase though, but Marvin promised he would repair it with magic the next day (Marvin is a Deadpool fanboy as well and he preferred watching the films).

The second piece of information was that he DID, in fact, tell them when his birthday is. It was half a year ago and he told only JJ, but JJ, being the brilliant little man he is, remembered and so, the idea of the party was born.

So, the night went on and on and suddenly it was 4 AM and Chase was lying exhausted on the couch, thanking God for it being Friday, wait, Saturday already, and he didn´t have to go to work.

His brothers were there as well. Henrik forgot to make himself some coffee and now was sleeping on the couch next to Chase, snoring loudly. JJ, who literally always goes to bed at 8 PM, was somehow still full of energy and was playing a videogame on the X-box. Jackie, God bless him, was shovelling the last pieces of cake into his mouth. He has been eating since Chase blew out the candles and hasn't stopped yet. How exactly was he able to devour such an amount of food, remained a mystery. Marvin was curled up in the armchair by the window and though Chase couldn't see his face, he guessed the magician was asleep.

"Guys," Chase addressed the two others left, "thank you. Thank you so much..."

JJ didn't move his eyes from the screen but waved his hand, trying to say it's fine.

Jackie swallowed a bite. "Nothin' to thank for, man."

"No, really," Chase sighed, "tonight was amazing. I'm so thankful for all of you... you must have worked really hard and stuff..."

"Nah, dude, it's fine," Jackie said and pointed his fork at Chase. "'Cos that's what family does."

Family.

The word that scared Chase so much. After everything he's been through, it all led him back to that one word.

"Yeah," he agreed quietly. Suddenly, he remembered the annoying device hidden in his pocket. He remembered the thoughts accompanying it.

"They didn't call, did they," Jackie said, now more seriously.

"No."

JJ turned off the X-box. He sat down onto the couch next to Chase and wrapped his hands around him.

Chase couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears started rolling down his cheeks and he had no control over them. He felt only JJ's steady presence.

"It's alright," Jackie said, "we are your family. And, unlike them, we will always be here for you."

"I-" Chase sobbed, "I wanted to drink that old whiskey we have in the kitchen tonight..."

Jackie smiled. "There is no whiskey."

"What do you mean?"

"Henrik was worried about you, so he threw it away."

"What?" Chase frowned. "But I'm sure I saw the bottle there..."

"The bottle is there," Jackie admitted, "but it's full of some water."

Chase couldn't help but smile. Such a 'Henrik' way to solve a problem...

"Thank you," he whispered.

Both of his brothers were smiling.

"As I said," Jackie repeated," we are always here for you. No matter what."

"Now you should go to sleep," Jackie added, "you look awful."

"Yeah..." Chase stood up. "Thank you ag-"

"Oh my GOD, Chase, stop thanking already and go to sleep!" Jackie laughed.

"Okay, okay, I'm GOING!!" Chase chuckled as well. "Goodnight, everybody! Or... good morning?"

"Chase, I swear to God-"

"FINE!"

JJ joined Jackie as he returned to the food. Now it was time for the donuts to go. Chase threw a glance over his shoulder at them devouring the donuts and left the room.

Jackie was right. Chase was really exhausted. A hard day of work AND a late-night party are not exactly the best combination.

After entering his room, Chase pulled the phone out of his pocket. It was low on battery when he was on the bus, it would be a miracle if it wasn't dead by now.

He plugged the charger in and the screen showed up. April 12, 4:56 AM, 6% of the battery left, 7 notifications.

Wait, what?

Chase unlocked the phone, his heart racing. After 10 PM: 6 missed calls. From Stacy.

1 message. Received 11:05 PM.

Chase opened it.

_hey kids wanted to wish you happy birthday but since you didnt answer the phone they wrote this for you: hapoy birthday to Dad!!!!!!!!! Be the happiestest ever and we are gonna see u soon!!!! Love you <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 - Ava & Luke_

He read the text again.

And again.

And again.

He didn't care about the weird childish grammar or the ton of exclamation marks and heart emojis.

They are gonna see him soon.

They want him to be the happiestest.

They care about him.

They love him.

And he, although he lives with different people now, still loves them.

One big family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, everyone :)


End file.
